Automatic cooking system and microwave oven

ABSTRACT

A microwave oven and automatic cooking system uses a food package provided with a noncontact IC tag storing information about a food contained in the food package, where the information about the food includes information about a method of heating the food and an amount of heat energy for cooking the food, the information about the amount of heat energy being expressed in a form of an absolute amount of heat energy. The microwave oven receives the food package and cooks the food contained in the food package. The microwave oven includes a reader that reads the information stored in the noncontact IC tag, and a ccontroller that controls the cooking of the food contained in the food package under optimum cooking conditions on the basis of the information read from the noncontact IC tag by the reader, the controller being programmed to automatically set an absolute amount of heat energy to be provided by the microwave oven on the basis of the information read by the reader, and set a heating time in accordance with an output capacity of the microwave oven and a type of the microwave oven so that the absolute amount of heat energy from the microwave oven conforms with the absolute amount of heat energy information read from the noncontact IC tag.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an automatic cold-storage system forcold-storing foods, a refrigerator, an automatic cooking system and amicrowave oven.

BACKGROUND ART

Usually, content information, time limit for relishing or storageconditions are indicated on a food package. However, since the contentsof the food package is not necessarily remembered after the food packagehas been stored or the contents of the food package have been cooked, itoften occurs that the food package is stored beyond the time limit forrelishing or the contents of the food package is cooked under wrongcooking conditions. Thus, the foods cannot be satisfactorily used.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in view of the foregoing problem andit is therefore an object of the present invention to provide anautomatic cold-storage system, a refrigerator, an automatic cookingsystem and a microwave oven capable of cold-storing a food package underoptimum storage condition and of cooking the food contained in the foodpackage under optimum cooking conditions on the basis of informationabout the contents of the food package.

According to the present invention, an automatic cold-storage systemincludes a food package provided with a noncontact IC tag storinginformation about a food contained in the food package, and arefrigerator for storing the food package; wherein the refrigerator isprovided with a noncontact IC tag reader for reading the informationfrom the noncontact IC tag, and the refrigerator has a managing meansfor cold-storing the food package under optimum cold-storing conditionson the basis of information read from the noncontact IC tag by thenoncontact IC tag reader.

In the automatic cold-storage system, the refrigerator is provided witha display device, and the managing means makes the display devicedisplay information on the basis of the information about the foodrecorded on the noncontact IC tag.

In the automatic cold-storage system, the information about the foodincludes a time limit for consumption and a time limit for relishing thefood, and the managing means makes the display device give a warningwhen the time limit for consumption or the time limit for relishing isdrawing.

In the automatic cold-storage system, the information about the foodincludes a time limit for consumption, a time limit for relishing thefood and the quantity of the food, and the managing means makes thedisplay device display proposed menus or proposed articles to bepurchased on the basis of the information about the time limit forconsumption, the time limit for relishing and the quantity of the food.

An automatic cold-storage system includes a food package provided with anoncontact RF-ID tag storing information about the food contained in thefood package, and a refrigerator for cold-storing the food package;wherein the refrigerator is provided with a noncontact RF-ID tag readerfor reading the information from the RF-ID tag, and a databasecontaining information read by the noncontact IC tag reader, and theinformation contained in the database can be read by an externalpersonal digital assistant.

In the automatic cold-storage system, the information contained in thedatabase is read through a mobile transmission network or the Internet.

A refrigerator according to the present invention for containing andcold-storing a food package provided with a noncontact IC tag includes anoncontact IC tag reader for reading information from the noncontact ICtag, and a managing means for cold-storing the food on the basis ofinformation read from the noncontact IC tab by the noncontact IC tagreader under optimum conditions.

The refrigerator further includes a display device, and the managingmeans makes the display device display information on the basis ofinformation about the food and storage conditions recorded on thenoncontact IC tag.

In the refrigerator, the information about the food includes a timelimit for consumption and a time limit for relishing the food, and themanaging means makes the display device display the information when thetime limit for consumption or the time limit for relishing is drawing.

In the refrigerator, the information about the food includes a timelimit for consumption, a time limit for relishing and the quantity ofthe food, and the managing means makes the display device displayproposed menus or proposed articles to be purchased on the basis of theinformation about the time limit for consumption, the time limit forrelishing and the quantity of the food.

The refrigerator further includes a database containing information readby the noncontact IC tag reader.

According to the present invention, a refrigerator for containing andcold-storing a food package provided with a noncontact RF-ID tag storinginformation about a food contained in the food package includes arefrigerating unit, a reader attached to the refrigerating unit andcapable of reading information from the noncontact RF-ID tag, and adatabase containing information read by the noncontact IC tag reader.

The refrigerator may further include a display device for displayinginformation read from the database.

In the refrigerator, the database is included in a home server or apersonal computer.

In the refrigerator, the reader is attached to the outer surface of therefrigerating unit and is capable of reading and writing operations.

In the refrigerator, the reader is disposed inside the refrigeratingunit.

According to the present invention, an automatic cooking system includesa food package provided with a noncontact IC tag storing informationabout a food contained in the food package, and a microwave oven capableof containing the food package and of cooking the food contained in thefood package, wherein the microwave oven is provided with a reader forreading the information from the noncontact IC tag, and has a cookingmeans to cook the food contained in the food package under optimumcooking conditions on the basis of the information read from thenoncontact IC tag by the reader.

In the automatic cooking system, the microwave oven further includes adisplay device, and the microwave oven further includes a displaydevice, and the cooking means makes the display device display a messagethat the food of the food package is not suitable for cooking when it isdecided, on the basis of the information about the food recorded on thenoncontact IC tag.

In the automatic cooking system, the information about the food includesa method of heating the food and an amount of heat energy for cooking,and the cooking means cooks the food contained in the food package underoptimum conditions determined on the basis of the information.

In the automatic cooking system, the information about the amount ofheat energy is expressed by an absolute amount of heat energy, and thecooking means adjusts an absolute amount of heat energy to be providedby the microwave oven on the basis of this information.

In the automatic cooking system, information about the amount of heatenergy is represented by a symbol indicating the level of the absoluteamount of heat energy, and the cooking means adjusts an absolute amountof heat energy to be provided by the microwave oven on the basis of thisinformation.

According to the present invention, a microwave oven for containing afood package provided with a noncontact IC tag storing information abouta food contained in the food package, and cooking the food contained inthe food package includes a reader for reading the information recordedon the noncontact IC tag, and a cooking means for cooking the foodcontained in the food package under optimum cooking conditionsdetermined on the basis of the information read from the noncontact ICtag by the noncontact IC tag reader.

The microwave oven further includes a display device, wherein thecooking means makes the display device display a message that the foodof the food package is not suitable for cooking when it is decided, onthe basis of the information about the food recorded on the noncontactIC tag.

In the microwave oven, the information about the food includes a methodof heating the food and an amount of heat energy for cooking, and thecooking means cooks the food of the food package under optimumconditions determined on the basis of the information.

In the microwave oven, the information about the amount of heat energyis expressed by an amount of absolute heat energy, and the cooking meansadjusts the amount of absolute heat energy to be provided by themicrowave oven on the basis of this information.

In the microwave oven, information about the amount of heat energy isrepresented by a symbol indicating the level of the amount of absoluteheat energy, and the cooking means adjusts the amount of absolute heatenergy to be provided by the microwave oven on the basis of thisinformation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an automatic cold-storage system in a firstembodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a refrigerator with its door open;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a noncontact IC tag;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a carton provided with a noncontact ICtag in another embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a front elevation of a refrigerator according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 is a front elevation of a refrigerator in a second embodimentaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a refrigerator with its door open;

FIG. 8 is a list of a stock of foods;

FIG. 9 is an illustration of assistance in explaining a remote stockinquiry system using a personal digital assistant for inquiring stocksin a refrigerator;

FIG. 10 is a view of a RF-ID tag in an embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an automatic cooking system in a thirdembodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic perspective view of a cooking chamber of amicrowave oven; and

FIG. 13 is a front elevation of a microwave oven according to thepresent invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION First Embodiment

An automatic cold-storage system in a first embodiment according to thepresent invention including a refrigerator will be described withreference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

The automatic cold-storage system uses noncontact IC tags attached tovarious foods, particularly, cooked frozen foods, such as HMRs (homemeal replacements), processed foods and perishable foods.

A refrigerator according to the present invention provided with anoncontact IC tag reader for reading information from a noncontact ICtag is employed in the automatic cold-storage system. The refrigeratorhas, in addition to the noncontact IC tag reader, a display device, anda database including data on stored foods.

Automatic Cold-Storage System

FIG. 1 illustrates the automatic cold-storage system as applied tohandling processed foods by way of example.

A food package 22 produced by packaging a processed food 21 in a carton22 a is shipped by a food processing plant. A noncontact IC tag 11 isattached to the carton 22 a of the food package 22 before shipping. Thefood package 22 is distributed by a distribution system to a retailer,and a consumer 3 purchases the food package 22 from the retailer.

When the food plant 2 ships the food package 22, information about thefood of the food package 22 including storage conditions, time limit forconsumption, time limit for relishing, quantity and such is recorded onthe noncontact IC tag 11 in addition to data on the food generallyindicated on a food package of a processed food, such as product name,(kind), producer's name, manufacturing date, lot number and such.

Generally, information similar to that recorded on the noncontact IC tag11 is indicated on the food package 22. However, since a limited area isavailable on the food package 22, only some of the pieces of informationare indicated on the food package 22. The information storage capacityof the noncontact IC tag 11 can be increased to any desired extend.

Sometimes, the consumer 3 cooks the purchased processed food 21directly. Normally, the purchased food package 22 containing theprocessed food 21 is stored temporarily in a refrigerator 31.

The refrigerator 31 is provided with noncontact IC tag readers 12(sometimes referred to also as “antennas”) for reading information fromthe noncontact IC tag 11. In the automatic cold-storage system, eachnoncontact IC tag reader 12 reads automatically the information from thenoncontact IC tag 11 attached to the food package 22 when the foodpackage 22 is put in the refrigerator 31 or periodically after the foodpackage 22 has been stored in the refrigerator 31.

The automatic cold-storage system adjusts cold-storing conditionsproperly according to the information read from the noncontact IC tag 11so as to meet specified storage conditions. If the storage conditionsare improper, the automatic cold-storage system gives a warning. Whenthe time limit for consumption or the time limit for relishing of thefood package 22 is drawing (close), the automatic cold-storage systemmakes a display device display a warning. The automatic cold-storagesystem proposes menus on the basis of foods stored in the refrigerator21, provides an inventory of foods stored in the refrigerator 31 andprovides a food package purchase proposal.

Generally, the information about the food of the food package 22recorded on the noncontact IC tag 11 and to be read by the noncontact ICtag reader 12 includes: (1) Storage date (month/date/year), (2)producer's name (producer code), (3) name of food (character string),(4) quantity of food (number of portions) (numerals), (5) cookingmethod, (6) storage temperature range (code), (7) time limit forconsumption (month/date/year), (8) time limit for relishing(month/date/year), (9) nutrients (character string describing calorie,fats, vitamins and the like), (10) repellents (character stringdescribing allergy and invalid diet).

Storage temperature ranges are represented by a code A for a freezingtemperature range, a code B for chilling temperature range, a code E forcooling (vegetable storage) temperature range and the like.

Time limit for consumption is assigned principally to a perishable foodto specify a preferable term for consumption and is, in most cases, ashort time of two or three days after production. Time limit forrelishing is assigned to a canned food or a boil-in-the-bag food havinga comparatively long shelf life to specify a preferable term forrelishing. Generally, a term limited by a time limit fore relishing fora canned food is as long as two years.

Referring to FIG. 2 showing the refrigerator 31, the refrigerator 31 hasa refrigerating unit 31 a, and a front door 31 d for closing the openfront side of the refrigerating unit 31 a. The front door 31 d is openedin FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 2, food packages 22 each including a carton 22 a and afood 21 packaged in the carton 22 a are stored in the refrigerator 31.The cartons 22 a of the food packages 22 are provided with noncontact ICtags 11, respectively.

Each food package 22 is provided with a label, not shown, indicatingdata on the food 21 in conformity to the Food Hygiene Act and the like,and time limits for consumption and relishing are indicated on the foodpackage 22. As a rule, data corresponding to those indicated on thelabel is recorded on the noncontact IC tag 11 and, generally, additionaldata are recorded on the noncontact IC tag 11.

The noncontact IC tag readers 12 for reading the information from thenoncontact IC tag 11 are disposed inside or outside the refrigeratingunit 31 a of the refrigerator 31 or the noncontact IC tag readers 12 aredisposed inside and outside the refrigerating unit 31 a, respectively. Adisplay device 14 is attached to the outer surface of the front door 31d. The display device 14 displays information read from the noncontactIC tag 11, warnings and the like.

The refrigerator 31 has a database 31 c including information aboutfoods read by the noncontact IC tag readers 12, and a managing means 31b for cold-storing food packages 22 on the basis of information includedin the database 31 c. The quantity of the stored foods is not verylarge, only a storage device comprised of an integrated circuit may beused for storing the database 31 c.

Generally, the refrigerator 31, such as a large refrigerator or adomestic refrigerator, has a plurality of storage sections respectivelyfor storing food packages 22 at temperatures in a plurality oftemperature ranges. Therefore, the noncontact IC tag readers 12 areassigned to the storage sections, respectively. The managing means 31 bcontrols the refrigerator 31 on the basis of information read by thenoncontact IC tag readers 12 to store the food packages 22 in thestorage sections in the refrigerator under optimum cold-storingconditions.

When the refrigerator 31 is a general-purpose refrigerator, thetemperature ranges includes a wine storage temperature range of about 6°to 12° C., a cool storage (vegetable storage) temperature range of about0° to 6° C., a cold storage temperature range of about −20 to 2° C.,chill storage temperature range of about −1° to −5° C., a half-frozenstorage temperature range of about −50 to −9° C. and a frozen storagetemperature range of about −17° to −21° C. The managing means 31 b makesthe display device 14 display a warning if a food package is put in thestorage section of a storage temperature range not meeting the storagetemperature condition for the food package.

For example, fruit is able to maintain its intrinsic taste when storedat temperatures in the half-frozen storage temperature range, and isfrozen hard and looses its taste and flavor if the same is stored attemperatures in the frozen storage temperature range.

The possible term of preservation of raw tuna is about one month whenthe raw tuna is frozen, fourteen days when half-frozen, and about fouror five days when cold-stored or chilled.

The managing means 31 b makes the display device 14 display a warning onthe basis of information read by the noncontact IC tag reader 12 whenthe expiration of the possible term of preservation estimated takinginto consideration the storage conditions of the storage section storingthe food package. The warning is displayed, for example, in red letterson the display device 14 on, for example, a liquid crystal displaypanel.

Generally, the time limit for relishing is not indicated on the labelattached to the food package 22 and is indicated, in most cases, by dateprinted on a side wall or the bottom wall of the carton 22 a of the foodpackage 22. Data on the time limit for relishing may be recorded on thenoncontact IC tag 11 and the managing means 31 b may make the displaydevice 14 of the refrigerator 31 display the approach of the time limitfor relishing.

Optimum conditions for storing the food 21 in the refrigerator 31 isdetermined taking into consideration the ingredients of the processedfood 21 and the functions of the refrigerator 31. Fruit must be storedat temperatures that will not freeze the fruit. Diary products and fruitare not frozen and maintain their taste and flavor when the same arestored at temperatures in the cold storage temperature range. However,if the refrigerator 31 does not have a storage section for the coldstorage temperature range, diary products and fruit are storedunavoidable under other storage conditions. Refrigerating conditions forthe food 21 is dependent on the term of preservation of the food 21. Asmentioned above, the possible term of preservation of sliced meat,similarly to that of raw tuna, is about one month when the sliced meatis frozen, twenty days when half-frozen, about six to fourteen days whenchilled, and seven or eight days when chilled. Thus conditions forpreservation are dependent on the term of preservation and the functionsof the refrigerator. Optimum preservation conditions are determinedtaking those conditions into consideration.

A noncontact IC tag reader/writer 13 may be disposed on the front door31 d of the refrigerator 31. The noncontact IC tag reader/writer 13 isnecessary for writing data to the noncontact IC tag 11. A personpurchased a food 21 is able to write necessary information including adesired term of preservation and a message to inhibit the use of thefood 21 by another person to the noncontact IC tag 11 before putting thefood 21 in the refrigerator 31. The noncontact IC tag reader/writer 13is necessary also for entering information about perishable foods, suchas raw fishes and vegetables, not provided with the noncontact IC tag11.

Preferably, the noncontact IC tag reader/writer 13 is disposed on thefront door 31 d of the refrigerator 31 for the convenience of theconsumer. When the noncontact IC tag reader/writer 13 is disposed on thefront door 31 d, the information recorded on the noncontact IC tag 11can be read by the noncontact IC tag reader/writer 13 before putting thefood package 22 in the refrigerator 31. Since the noncontact IC tag 11can be held close to the noncontact IC tag reader/writer 13 to read theinformation from the noncontact IC tag 11 and to write data to thenoncontact IC tag 11, data can be written to the noncontact IC tag 11 bylow writing power even if the communication distance of the noncontactIC tag 11 is long.

When information is read from the noncontact IC tag 11 by the noncontactIC tag reader/writer 13 before putting the food package 22 in therefrigerator 31, the same information is read again by the noncontact ICtag reader 12 disposed in the refrigerator 31. However, since the foodpackage 22 is specified, as a rule, by an unduplicated ID code and dataspecified by the same ID code as that specifying data previously enteredinto the database 31 c is deleted, the managing means 31 b of therefrigerator 31 does not recognize faultily the same food package 22 tobe two different food packages.

Accordingly, if food packages 22 are different, each food packages 22containing the same food and produced on the same date of manufactureare provided with different ID codes, respectively.

The refrigerator 31 is not different from ordinary refrigerators at all,except that the refrigerator 31 has the managing means 31 b capable ofoptimum cold-storing conditions on the basis of the information readfrom the noncontact IC tag 11, and of making the display device 14display a warning when the cold-storing conditions are inappropriate.

Optimum conditions for food packages of the same kind are set conditionswhere when food packages of the same kind are stored in a predeterminedsection of the refrigerator 31, the food packages of the same kind canbe properly cold-stored.

When the refrigerator 31 is an ordinary domestic refrigerator, aplurality of food packages 22 are stored in storage sections adjusted tospecific storage conditions, respectively, and hence the storageconditions are not necessarily suitable for all the food packages storedin the refrigerator 31. In such a case, warnings may be displayed tothat effect.

The interior of the refrigerator 31 may be divided into storage sectionsand fixed storage conditions may be set for the storage sections,respectively, or the storage conditions for the food packages 22 may bevariable.

A proposal for menus and a proposal to purchase foods are made on thebasis of the information about the food packages 22 stored in therefrigerator 31. For example, when the stored food packages 22 includescanned foods and boil-in-the-bag foods approaching close to their timelimits for relishing, the managing means 31 b proposes the use of thosefoods and menus which needs those foods. When the amount of food, whichis used regularly, such as eggs or milk, diminishes, the managing means31 b makes a proposal to purchase the food. The managing means 31 bmakes the display device 14 display the contents of the proposal.

Noncontact IC Tag

The noncontact IC tag 11 has an LC resonance circuit formed on a plasticbase and including an antenna and a capacitor. The noncontact IC tag 11responds to a microwave of a specific frequency.

Generally, a radio wave of 125 kHz, 13.56 MHz, 2.45 GHz or 5.8 GHz(microwave) is used for operating the noncontact IC tag 11.

Referring to FIG. 3, the noncontact IC tag 11 includes a base 110 of aplastic material or the like, an antennal pattern 112 formed on the base110, and an IC chip 111 connected to the antenna pattern 112. Theantenna pattern 112, and a capacitor included in the IC chip 111 form aresonance circuit. The noncontact IC tag 11 sends out information storedtherein upon the reception of a radio wave of a specific frequency.

As shown in FIG. 3, a conductive member 114 forms a jumper circuit onthe back surface of the base 110 and the antenna pattern 112 isconnected to bumps formed on the back surface of IC chip 111 by coilconnecting terminals 112C.

The noncontact IC tag 11 is fabricated by forming the antenna pattern112 by subjecting a metal foil, such as an aluminum foil, laminated tothe resin base 110 to photolithographic etching processes or to resistprinting and etching processes, mounting the IC chip 111 on the base110, and covering the antenna pattern 112 and the IC chip 111 with aprotective film. The size of the noncontact IC tag 11 may be 30 mm sq.or below or on the order of 100 mm sq.

The base 110 of the noncontact IC tag 11 is formed of any one of PETresins, polypropylene resins, polyethylene resins, polystyrene resins,nylons and the like. The base 110 may be formed of paper. The thicknessof the base 110 is in the range of 15 to 300 μm. Preferably, thethickness of the base 110 is in the range of 20 to 100 μm in view ofstrength, workability and cost.

Although the metal foil may be an aluminum foil, a copper foil or aniron foil, an aluminum foil of a thickness in the range of about 6 toabout 50 μm is preferable in view of cost and workability.

FIG. 4 shows another possible noncontact IC tag 11.

The noncontact IC tag 11 shown in FIG. 3 is a general-purpose noncontactIC tag. The noncontact IC tag 11 to be attached to the food package maybe of a simpler configuration.

For example, the simple noncontact IC tag 11 as shown in FIG. 4 can besatisfactorily put to practical use. The noncontact IC tag shown in FIG.4 is fabricated by printing an antenna pattern (antenna) 112 with aconductive ink on a wall of a base 210 of a carton 22 a, and mounting anIC chip 111 on the antenna.

The antenna pattern 112 of the noncontact IC tag 11 shown in FIG. 4 isformed directly on the wall of the carton 22 a by a silk-screen printingprocess, an offset printing process or a gravure printing process, andattaching the IC chip 111 mounted on a tack label to the antenna 112.

A noncontact IC tag 11 integrally including an antenna and a storagedevice may be mounted on a tack sheet and the tack sheet holding thenoncontact IC tag 11 may be applied to a cardboard sheet or a softpackaging material for forming the carton 22 a. The noncontact IC tag 11can be attached to a molded carton 22 a by an in-mold labeling processin which the noncontact IC tag 11 is placed in a mold for molding thecarton 22 a.

Refrigerator

Referring to FIG. 5, the refrigerator 31 included in the automaticcold-storage system in the first embodiment is provided with theantenna-type noncontact IC tag reader 12 in the refrigerating unit 31 aor on the front door 31 d, or with the antenna-type noncontact IC tagreaders 12 in the refrigerating unit 31 a and on the front door 31 d. Inthe refrigerator 31 shown in FIG. 5, the noncontact IC tag reader/writer13 and the display device 14 are placed on the front door 31 d.

Preferably, the display device 14 is a liquid crystal display capable ofdisplaying information about foods stored in the refrigerator 31, andtime limit for relishing of the foods and necessary warnings. Thenoncontact IC tag reader/writer 13 is capable of reading informationfrom and writing data to the noncontact IC tag 11. Preferably, thenoncontact IC tag reader/writer 13 is provided with a numeric keypad forentering date and such in the noncontact IC tag 11.

The consumer stores a food package 22 provided with a noncontact IC tag11 in the refrigerator 31. When the noncontact IC tag reader/writer 13is placed on the front door 31 d of the refrigerator 31, data on thefood package 22 can be entered simply by holding the food package 22opposite to the noncontact IC tag reader/writer 13 on the front door 31d. The data thus entered is accumulated in the database 31 c. Theantenna-type noncontact IC tag reader 12 is provided with a scanningdevice capable of sending a radio wave of a frequency corresponding tothe resonance frequency of the noncontact IC tag 11 to the noncontact ICtag 11, and of receiving response waves from the noncontact IC tag 11attached to the food package 22 to read information from the noncontactIC tag 11.

The antenna-type noncontact IC tag reader 12 may be of anelectromagnetic induction system, an electromagnetic coupling system oran electrostatic coupling system depending on a communication systememployed, or may be of a composite system.

The antenna-type noncontact IC tag reader 12 placed in the refrigerator31 needs a communication distance in the range of about 50 to 100 cm.Therefore, the antenna-type noncontact IC tag reader 12 must be amicrowave type or a near-field type (IEC15693, ISO).

When the antenna-type noncontact IC tag reader 12 is placed in therefrigerator 31, the antenna-type noncontact IC tag reader 12 iscombined with a plastic molding by in-molding and is covered with aplastic film so that metal parts thereof are not exposed to prevent therusting of the metal parts by the agency of moisture in the refrigerator31.

Since many food packages 22 of different kinds are stored in therefrigerator 31, all the food packages 22 must be provided withnonduplicating ID codes, respectively.

Data collision occurs when many noncontact IC tags 11 respondsimultaneously. There have been previously proposed many methods ofsequentially communicating with the noncontact IC tags, including amethod disclosed in JP-A No. Hei 8-36623, to avoid data collision.

EXAMPLES

Use 1: Consumption Time Limit Alarm

An antenna pattern 12 of a conductive ink containing carbon pigment wasformed by a silk-screen printing process on a surface of a cardboardsheet and the printed antenna pattern 12 was dried. The surface of thecardboard sheet provided with the antenna pattern 12 forms an innersurface of a carton formed by processing the cardboard sheet.

An IC chip mounted on a tack label (Bistatix, 1 kB, Motorola) 111 wasput on the IC chip connecting terminals of the antenna pattern 112 tocomplete a carton 22 a provided with a noncontact IC tag 11.

A frozen food 21 was packed in the carton 22 a to produce a food package22. Numeric characters “000715” indicating time limit for consumption ofJul. 15, 2000 were written to the noncontact IC tag 11.

The food package 22 was held opposite to the noncontact IC tagreader/writer 13 placed on the front door 31 d of the refrigerator 31before putting the food package 22 in the refrigerator 31 to read datarecorded on the noncontact IC tag 11. The data read from the noncontactIC tag 11 was entered into the database 31 c and the time limit forconsumption was displayed on the display device 14.

Thus the use of the food which has been stored beyond the time limit forconsumption can be avoided, food poisoning by rotten foods can beprevented, and loss of foods due to forgetting the storage of the foodscan be reduced.

Use 2: Stock Management

A carton 22 a provided with a noncontact IC tag 11 was fabricated by thesame method as that mentioned above in connection with the explanationof Use 1.

A frozen food 21 was packed in the carton 22 a to produce a food package22. Data representing producer's name “DN Food”, name of article“gratin”, quantity “two portions”, cooking method “heating for 5 min inan oven”, storage temperature range “frozen” and time limit forconsumption “000812” were recorded on the noncontact IC tag 11.

The data recorded on the noncontact IC tag 11 was read by the noncontactIC tag reader/writer 13 and storage date was written to the noncontactIC tag 11 by a timer when putting the food package 22 containing thefrozen food 21 in the refrigerator 31.

Information about the food package 22 was entered into the database 31 cof the refrigerator 31 and the information about the food package 22 andthe time limit for consumption were displayed on the display device 14.

All the information included in the database 31 c can be displayed toenable the consumer to obtain the information about the food packagesstored in the refrigerator and to use the information as reference whenmaking a shopping list.

Use 3: Indication of Storage Temperature

A carton 22 a provided with a noncontact IC tag 11 was fabricated by thesame method as that mentioned above in connection with the explanationof Use 1.

A frozen food 21 was packed in the carton 22 a to produce a food package22. Data representing producer's name “DN Food”, name of article“gratin”, quantity “two portions”, cooking method “heating for 5 ml inan oven”, storage temperature range “frozen” and time limit forconsumption “000812” were recorded on the noncontact IC tag 11.

The data recorded on the noncontact IC tag 11 was read by the noncontactIC tag reader/writer 13 when putting the food package 22 containing thefrozen food 21 in the refrigerator 31. When the food package 22 was putin a drawer in the cool storage section, an alarm (warning) indicatingthat the food package 22 was stored in a wrong storage section wasdisplayed on the display device 14. Thus, even if the comsumer storesthe food package 22 wrongly in the refrigerator 31, the alarm notifieshim or her immediately that the food package 22 was stored wrongly, sothat wasting the food due to long, wrong storage of the same can beavoided.

As apparent from the foregoing description, the automatic cold-storagesystem in the first embodiment uses effectively the information recordedon the noncontact IC tag incorporated into a food package for storingthe food package in the refrigerator. Therefore, failure in storing thefood package due to faulty condition setting can be avoided and the foodpackage can be stored always under optimum conditions in therefrigerator. Since the information about a food package stored in therefrigerator is contained in the database, the correct inventory offoods stored in the refrigerator can be always known, time limits forconsumption of the foods stored in the refrigerator can be surely known,and hence the purchase of a uselessly large amount of food packages andthe wasteful disposal of the food packages can be avoided.

Second Embodiment

A refrigerator 31 provided with a database storage device, in a secondembodiment according to the present invention will be described withreference to FIGS. 6 to 10. As shown in FIG. 6, the refrigerator 31provided with the database storage device is provided with RF-ID tagreaders 12 a.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, the refrigerator 31 has a refrigerating unit31 a and a front door 31 d. The RF-ID tag readers 12 a are disposed inthe interior of the refrigerating unit 31 a and on the front door 31 d.The outside RF-ID tag reader 12 a may be attached to a side surface ofthe refrigerator 31 or may be disposed near the refrigerator 31 insteadof attaching the same to the front door 31 d. A RF-ID tag reader/writer13 a capable of reading information from a RF-ID tag and of writing datato the RF-ID tag may be attached to the front door 31 d. The RF-ID tagreader/writer 13 a is provided with a numeric keypad for entering datarepresenting the residual amount of foods and date. Although the outsideRF-ID tag reader 12 a or the RF-ID tag reader/writer 13 a are optionaldevices and are dispensable, the inside RF-ID tag readers 12 a disposedin the refrigerating unit 31 a are indispensable.

A display device 14 is placed on the refrigerating unit 31 a.Preferably, the display device 14 is a liquid crystal display capable ofdisplaying information about food packages 22 stored in the refrigerator31, and time limits for consumption of the food packages, storage dateand necessary warnings. The display device 14 may be attached to a sidesurface of the refrigerator 31 or may be disposed near the refrigerator31 instead of attaching the same to the front door 31 d.

The consumer puts a food package 22 provided with a RF-ID tag 11 in therefrigerator 31. When the RF-ID tag reader/writer 13 a is placed on thefront door 31 d of the refrigerator 31, he or she holds the food package22 opposite to the RF-ID tag reader/writer 13 a. Thus informationrecorded on the RF-ID tag 11 is entered into a home server or a database15 a held in a personal computer 15. The RF-ID tag reader/writer 13 aplaced on the front door 31 d of the refrigerator 31 can be used forreading information not only when putting a food package 22 in therefrigerator but also when returning a food package 22 into therefrigerator 31 after using part of the food of the food package 22 andrewriting the amount of the residual food of the food package 22. Whenputting a new food package 22 in the refrigerator 31, the refrigerator31 recognizes an ID code recorded on the RF-ID tag 11, and records thestorage date of the food package 22 on the database 15 a on the basistime data provided by a timer included in the refrigerator 31. Thestorage date may be entered by operating keys by hand.

The RF-ID tag reader 12 a placed in the refrigerator 31 readsinformation about the food package 22 put in the refrigerator 31.Duplication of data is avoided by the ID code recorded on the RF-ID tag11, so that the duplicate entry of the same food package 22 in thedatabase 15 a does not occur.

The display device 14 displays information about foods, contained in thedatabase 15 a. Therefore the consumer is able to know whether or not adesired fool package is stored in the refrigerator 31 without openingthe refrigerator 31.

As shown in FIG. 6, the refrigerator 31 includes a home server or apersonal computer 15. The consumer is able to access the database 15 aheld in the home server or the personal computer 15. The home server orthe personal computer 15 may be connected to domestic electricappliances other than the refrigerator 31 to control and manage thesame.

The home server or the personal computer 15 may be placed in therefrigerating unit 31 a or may be separated from the refrigerating unit31 a.

The home server or the personal computer 15 is able to respond to anexternal inquiry. For example, when the consumer inquired of the homeserver while the consumer is shopping and received a response from thehome server, the response can be displayed on a display 52 a included ina personal digital assistant 52 (FIG. 9).

Food packages 22 shown in FIG. 7 are provided with RF-ID tags 11 ontheir cartons 22 a, respectively.

A label, not shown, indicating data on a food contained in the carton 22a of the food package 22 in conformity to provisions of the Food HygieneAct is attached to each food package 22, and a time limit forconsumption, a time limit for relishing and storage conditions areindicated on the carton 22 a of the food package 22. As a rule, dataindicated on the label is recorded on the RF-ID tag 11 and additionaldata is recorded also on the RF-ID tag 11.

The RF-ID tag reader 12 a includes an antenna and a main circuit. Themain circuit generates, modulates and demodulates radio waves. Only theantenna is shown in FIG. 2. Information can be efficiently read from theRF-ID tag 11 by the RF-ID tag reader 12 a when planes respectivelyincluding the antenna and the RF-ID tag 11 are parallel. However, theinformation can be read from the RF-ID tag 11 even if the planes are notparallel.

Once the food package 22 is put in the refrigerator 31 for storage,information is read from the RF-ID tag 11 and the information is enteredinto the database 15 a, the RF-ID tag reader 12 a sends a radio wave ofa frequency corresponding to the resonance frequency of the RF-ID tag 11regularly to the RF-ID tag 11, and receives responses from the foodpackage 22 provided with the same RF-ID tag 11. If any response cannotbe received, it is decided that the food package 22 has been consumedand the database 15 a is amended to that effect.

Data on the food package 22 that does not respond to the radio wave sentout by the RF-ID tag reader 12 a is not erased immediately from thedatabase 15 a, and the date of consumption of the food package 22 isheld in the database 15 a and is displayed for some time, because it isnecessary to know the process of consumption. Data obtained by adding upthe amounts of foods consumed in the past is useful for estimating themode of nourishment ingestion and taste for food of the family, and forcalculating food expenses.

It is preferable to place the RF-ID tag readers 12 a in all thecompartments between the shelves to find the positions of the foodpackages 22 in the refrigerator 31 and to read data on the food packages22 stored at different positions in the refrigerator 31 without fail.The position of the food package 22 can be estimated from the intensityof a response radio wave.

The antenna of the RF-ID tag reader 12 a is of an electromagneticinduction system, an electromagnetic coupling system, an electrostaticcoupling system depending on a communication system employed or may be acomposite system.

The antenna of the RF-ID tag reader 12 a placed in the refrigerator 31needs a communication distance in the range of about 50 to 100 cm. Acommunication frequency of 13.56 MHz, 125 kHz, 2.45 GHz or 5.8 GHz isused.

When the RF-ID tag reader 12 a is to be placed in the refrigerator 31,the antenna of the RF-ID tag reader 12 a is combined with a plasticmolding by in-molding and is covered with a plastic film so that metalparts thereof are not exposed to prevent the rusting of the metal partsby the agency of moisture in the refrigerator 31.

Since many food packages 22 of different kinds are stored in therefrigerator 31, the RF-ID tags 11 of all the food packages 22 must beprovided with nonduplicating ID codes, respectively. Generally,different ID codes are given to RF-ID tags 11, respectively, whenmanufacturing the RF-ID tags 11. Therefore, as a rule, food packages 22provided with RF-ID tags 11 having the same ID code are not storedsimultaneously in the refrigerator 31. Thus, even if a plurality of foodpackages of the same brand and the same quality are storedsimultaneously in the refrigerator, those food packages must bediscriminated from each other by the different ID codes and the amountof the stocked food packages must be known.

Data collision occurs when many RF-ID tags 11 respond simultaneously tocall signals sent out by the RF-ID tag readers 12 a and the RF-ID tagreader/writer 13 a. There have been previously proposed manycommunication methods of sequentially communicating with the RF-ID tags11 to avoid data collision.

Food data on the food packages stored in the refrigerator 31 read by theRF-ID tag readers 12 a is added to the database 15 a. The refrigerator31 may be provided with a computer including a storage device. Thedatabase 15 a may be held in a home server or a personal computer 15.Data contained in the database 15 a is displayed on the display device14.

FIG. 8 is a list of a stock of food packages 22, in which the foodpackages 22 are listed in order of storage date. The food packages 22may be listed in optional order, such as in order of time limit ofconsumption. The order of arrangement of the food packages 22 on thelist can be selectively determined. A specific food can be retrieved.Only a limited space is available for the list. The list shown in FIG. 8indicates only storage date, producer's name, name of article, timelimit for consumption, and quantity (number of portions). If necessary,it is preferable that the list can be laterally scrolled to indicateadditional items, such as nutrients, repellents and menus.

FIG. 9 illustrates a refrigerated stock inquiry system (automaticcold-storage system) including a personal digital assistant.

A user 1M uses a personal digital assistant 52, which is similar to aportable telephone, to inquire of a refrigerator 31 about informationabout foods.

When a mobile communication network is used, a regional station in azone including a home 1H, and a regional station 62 in a zone includingthe place where the user 1M is staying constitute a mobile communicationnetwork MN. The user 1M specifies a home server 15 through a stationcontroller 63, an exchange 64 and the mobile communication network MN toaccess the refrigerator 31. Domestic electric appliances, such as an airconditioning system 16 and a monitor 17, other than the refrigerator 31can be connected to the home server 15. The user 1M can access the homeserver 15 through the personal digital assistant 52, the Internet and atelephone 18 by specifying an address.

A RF-ID tag 11 attached to a food package 22 will be described. TheRF-ID tag 11 may be identical with the noncontact ID tag 11 shown inFIG. 3.

The RF-ID tag 11 is fabricated by forming an antenna pattern 112 bysubjecting a metal foil, such as an aluminum foil, laminated to a base110 to photolithographic etching processes or to resist printing andetching processes, mounting an IC chip 111 on the base 110. The size ofthe noncontact IC tag 11 may be 20 mm sq. or below or on the order of100 mm sq.

FIG. 10 shows another possible RF-ID tag 11. FIG. 10(A) is a plan viewof the RF-ID tag 11, in which an IC chip label 11 a is attached to apair of antenna patterns 112. FIG. 10(B) shows the RF-ID tag 11, inwhich the IC chip label 11 a is partly peeled off the pair of antennapatterns 112. FIG. 10(C) is an enlarged sectional view taken on line A—Ain FIG. 10(A).

The RF-ID tag 11 is fabricated by printing the antenna patterns 112directly on the base 110 formed by cutting a cardboard sheet, andattaching the IC chip label 111 a to the antenna patterns 112.

The antenna patterns 112 of the RF-ID tag 11 can be formed by printing aconductive ink by a silk-screen printing process, an offset printingprocess or a gravure printing process. The conductive ink is prepared bydispersing carbon particles, graphite particles, silver particles,aluminum foils or a mixture of some of those particles in a vehicle.

There are no particular restrictions on the shape of the antennapatterns 112. The antenna patterns 112 may be formed in a straight line,a coil or a pair of wings as shown in FIG. 10. The IC chip label 111 ais bonded to the antenna patterns 112 on the base 210 so as to beelectrically connected to the wing-shaped antenna patterns 112.

The IC chip label 111 a is fabricated by attaching an IC chip 111 formedby fabricating an integrated circuit, a storage device or both anintegrated circuit and a storage device in a silicon substrate to a tacklabel so as to be connected to the antenna patterns 112. The IC chilabel 111 a may be provided with a small antenna connected to the ICchip 111. More concretely, the IC chip label 111 a is an interposer“Bistatix” commercially available from Motorola.

Generally, the IC chip label 111 a is adhesively bonded to the antennapatterns 112 printed on the base 210. As shown in FIG. 10(B), the ICchip label 111 a has a base sheet 120, and small antenna patterns 121and 122.

As shown in FIG. 10(C), the antenna patterns 121 and 122 of the IC chiplabel 111 a are bonded to the antenna patterns 112 formed on the base210 with an adhesive 117, such as an anisotropic, conductive adhesivewhich is conductive only in a direction perpendicular to the antennapatterns 112, 121 and 122 or a nonconductive adhesive. The adhesive 117is applied beforehand to the antenna patterns 121 and 122 of the IC chiplabel 111 a to form a tack label.

The IC chip 111 has a recording capacity of 1024 bits for recording 128characters, which are necessary for recording the least necessaryinformation about an ordinary management label or a commodity package.If the IC chip 111 has a recording capacity of several kilobits, anamount of information greater than that can be expressed by atwo-dimensional bar code can be recorded. The IC chip 111 isadvantageous over a two-dimensional bar code in that necessaryinformation can be additionally recorded therein and informationrecorded therein is rewritable.

Generally, an antitheft tag is not provided with any storage devicebecause the antitheft tag is required only to resonate with a signalsource. The RF-ID tag 11 is provided with a storage device and iscapable of serving also as an antitheft tag.

Information recorded on the RF-ID tag 11 attached to a food package 22will be examined.

It is more preferable to record a larger amount of information on theRF-ID tag 11 to be attached to the food package 22. However, since theRF-ID tag 11 has a limited recording capacity, a limited amount ofinformation or data can be recorded on the RF-ID tag 11.

Generally, the followings are preferable pieces of information for foodmanagement.

(1) Storage date (month/date/year), (2) producer's name (producer code),(3) name of food (character string), (4) quantity of food (number ofportions) (numerals), (5) cooking method (character string), (6) storagetemperature range (code, A: cold storage, B: frozen storage), (7) timelimit for consumption (month/date/year), (8) nutrients (character stringdescribing calorie, fats, vitamins and the like), (9) repellents(character string describing allergy and invalid diet), and (10)category (dairy products, such as butter).

Storage date (month/date/year) of a food package 22 is enteredautomatically by the timer included in the refrigerator or the userenters the storage date by operating a keyboard when putting the foodpackage 22 in the refrigerator. Therefore, the refrigerator may beprovided with a numeric keypad.

Other data (2) to (10) are written to the RF-ID tag by the producerbefore shipping the food package 22. If the food contained in the foodpackage 22 is processed by an intermediate processor, additionalinformation may be recorded on the RF-ID tag by the intermediateprocessor.

Data on the category (data (10)) facilitates the retrieval of stockedfoods. It is convenient to use food categories classifying foods intotwo to thee groups according to a food classification table.

EXAMPLES

Examples of practical uses of the refrigerated stock inquiry system willbe described.

Use 1: Stock Confirmation During Shopping

Information about name, time limits for consumption, quantity andstorage date of each of foods stored in the refrigerator 31 is retrievedfrom the refrigerator 31.

When a user 1M carrying the personal digital assistant 52 makes apurchase on the way home, the user 1M accesses the home server 15through a mobile communication network or a telephone line to confirmthe contents of the database 15 a held by the refrigerator 31 (FIG. 9).

When the user 1M intends to see whether or not there is a stock ofbutter in the refrigerator 31 and does not remember the brand name ofbutter, the user 1M enters a category name “butter”. Then, the homeserver 15 sends a list of the names, time limits of consumption,quantities and storage dates of stocked foods that can be described bythe category name “butter” to the personal digital assistant 52. Thelist is displayed on the display 52 a of the personal digital assistant52. Then the user 1M consults the list to decide whether it is necessaryto purchase butter.

Use 2: Stock Confirmation Before Coming Home

Information obtained from the refrigerator 31: storage date,manufacturer's name, product name, quantity, cooking method, time limitfor consumption and such.

When the user 1M carrying the personal digital assistant 52 intends tomake a purchase on his or her way home, the user 1M access the homeserver 15 through the mobile communication network or a telephone lineto inquire of the database 15 a about the recorded information.

The user 1M uses a category “processed food” as a keyword for checkingthe contents of the refrigerator 31. The database 15 a sends a list ofthe storage dates, producer's names, product names, quantities cookingmethods and time limits for consumption of stored foods described by thecategory “processed food” to the personal digital assistant 52.

Data thus given to the personal digital assistant 52 is displayed on thedisplay 52 a of the personal digital assistant 52. Thus the user 1M isable to know the contents of the stock and hence able to decideprecisely whether or not any foods need to be purchased and what must bepurchased on his or her way home with reference to the number of personsexpected to sit down to dinner, cooking methods, the storage date andtime limits for consumption of the foods in stock.

Although the foregoing examples of uses have been described only inconnection with checking of the foods stored in the refrigerator 31, itwill be obvious to those skilled in the art that various uses of therefrigerated stock inquiry system can be expected by incorporatingvarious functions into the refrigerator 31.

For example, it is possible to make the refrigerated stock inquirysystem propose menus which can be made up of the food of food packages22 stored in the refrigerator 31, give advice on the nourishment andhealth of the family on the basis of the mode of consumption of foodpackages 22 in the past several months, give advice on the management ofthe family budget and food expenses on the basis of the amount of moneyspent for purchasing foods, give notice of excessively long storage offood packages 22 or propose menus which can be made up of the foods ofonly long stored food packages.

The refrigerator 31 according to the present invention provided with theRF-ID tag readers 12 a, the RF-ID tag reader/writer 13 a, and thedatabase 15 a containing food data read from the RF-ID tags is anintelligent refrigerator capable of giving necessary information to theuser. The refrigerated stock inquiry system according to the presentinvention enables the user to obtain information about the food packagesstored in the refrigerator through the mobile communication network orthe like at a place where the user is staying, so that the user does notneed to check food packages stocked in the refrigerator 31 beforehandand the user is able to make economical, proper purchase of foods.

Third Embodiment

An automatic cooking system in a third embodiment according to thepresent invention and a microwave oven will be described with referenceto FIGS. 11 to 13.

The automatic cooking system according to the present invention usesnoncontact IC tags which will be attached to various foods,particularly, home meal replacements (HMRs) and other processed foods inthe future.

The microwave oven according to the present invention can be employed inthe automatic cooking system and is provided with a noncontact IC tagreader and, preferably, a display device.

Automatic Cooking System

FIG. 11 shows the automatic cooking system for cooking a processed foodby way of example. A food package 22 produced by packaging a processedfood 21 in a carton 22 a is shipped from a food plant 2. A noncontact ICtag 11 is attached to the carton 22 a of the food package 22. The foodpackage 22 is delivered through a distribution system to a retail shop,and a consumer 3 purchases the food package 22 from the retail shop.

General data on the processed food 21 of the food package 22, such asproduct name, (kind), producer's name, manufacturing date, lot numberand such, and cooking conditions for cooking the processed food 21 bythe consumer's microwave oven 41 (heating method, heating time or heatapplied to the food) are recorded in an IC storage device included inthe noncontact IC tag 11 before shipping the food package 22 from thefood plant 2.

Similar data is indicated on the food package 22. However, since alimited area is available on the food package 22 for indicating data,only limited data can be indicated on the food package 22. On the otherhand, the upper limit of the amount of data that can be recorded on thenoncontact IC tag 11 can be increased as much as it is necessary byproviding the noncontact IC tag 11 with an IC storage device having asufficient storage capacity.

When the automatic cooking system of the present invention cooks a foodcontained in the food package 22, a noncontact IC tag reader (sometimesreferred to as “antenna”) 12 included in the microwave oven 41 readsinformation automatically from the noncontact IC tag 11 attached to thefood package 22.

The microwave oven 41 is provided with a database 41 c containinginformation about foods read by the noncontact IC tag reader 12, acooking means 41 b which cooks the food package 22 on the basis ofinformation contained in the database 41 c, and a display device 14(FIG. 13). The cooking means 41 b controls the microwave oven 41 to cookthe food package 22 under optimum cooking conditions on the basis ofinformation contained in the database 41 c. When cooking conditions areinappropriate, the cooking means 41 b makes the display device 14display a warning.

When cooking the food package 22 by the microwave oven 41, the automaticcooking system of the present invention corrects the variation of themagnetron output of the microwave oven 41.

The specific variation of the magnetron output of the microwave oven 41is grasped. Data on heating conditions recorded in an IC chip 111included in the noncontact IC tag 11 is an absolute value, such as“absolute quantity of heat” or “(quantity of heat)×(time)” and is not asimple relative value represented by time.

If microwave ovens of the same type have different outputs, heating timeis corrected under the foregoing condition. Thus the correction, whichis used to be made by using a temperature sensor, can be more accuratelyachieved.

The microwave oven 41 corrects heating time automatically according toits output capacity W (watt) and its type. Only data on a standardabsolute quantity of heat determined by the food producer of the foodpackage 22 and the electric appliance manufacture of the microwave oven41 is recorded in the IC chip 111 of the noncontact IC tag 11 shown inFIG. 3. The microwave oven 41 corrects the data read from the IC chip111 of the noncontact IC tag 11 with reference to a reference value toobtain a corrected value for the microwave oven 41.

Thus, the amount of information needed to be recorded on the noncontactIC tag 11 is reduced, the storage capacity of the storage device may besmall and hence the cost of the noncontact IC tag 11 can be reduced.

The user does not need to set the microwave oven 41 for cooking time andcooking method every time the user uses the microwave oven 41 and needsonly to operate a start switch 45 to achieve optimum cooking of thefood. Thus complicated operations are omitted, troubles due tooverheating can be prevented and the convenience of aged users, who havedifficulty in reading instructions and indication, is improved.

The correction for the current microwave oven is subject to the initialtemperature, specific heat, size and weight of the food to be cooked.The recent microwave oven is provided with a weight sensor and atemperature sensor to measure the initial condition of the food to becooked. However, the temperature sensor and the weight sensor are notfundamentally effective measures to deal with the problems and it ispractically impossible to correct automatically all the cookingconditions for various processed foods which are marketed one afteranother. When the absolute quantity of heat is used as a heatingcondition, variable conditions are reduced.

Generally, the information about the food recorded on the noncontact ICtag 11 attached to the food package 22 and to be read by the noncontactIC tag reader 12 includes: (1) name of food (character string), (2)quantity of food (number of portions) (numerals), (3) heating time, (4)heating condition, (5) time limit for consumption (month/data/year) and(6) time limit for relishing (month/data/year).

A time limit for consumption and a time limit for relishing arenecessary for notifying the user that the food package has been storedbeyond the time limit for storage and is not good for cooking. Whennecessary, data on (7) nutrients (character string describing calorie,fats, vitamins and the like) and (8) repellents (character stringdescribing allergy and invalid diet) may be recorded on and read fromthe noncontact IC chip 11 to give a warning.

The heating time is expressed in minutes and seconds for a referenceoutput W (watt) or may be represented by a code, such as A: 30 sec, B:45 sec or C: 60 sec. The code does not represent a heating time, andrepresents a level of absolute quantity of heat, which conforms to theobject of the present invention. The representation of the heating timeby the code saves the storage capacity of the noncontact IC tag 11,which contributes to the reduction of the cost of the noncontact IC tag11.

The heating condition specifies microwave heating, electric heating,convection heating, forced heating using a fan or such. Those heatingconditions may be represented by codes.

Time limit for consumption (month/date/year) is assigned principally toa perishable food to specify a preferable term for consumption and is,in most cases, a short time of two or three days after production. Timelimit for relishing is assigned to a canned food or a boil-in-the-bagfood having a comparatively long shelf life to specify a preferable termfor relishing. Generally, a term limited by a time limit for relishingfor a canned food is as long as two years. There is the danger of foodpoisoning when a food stored beyond the time limit for consumption iseaten. The microwave oven 41 is capable of giving a warning not to eatsuch an old food to prevent food poisoning.

Each food package 22 is provided with a label, not shown, indicatingdata on the food 21 in conformity to the Food Hygiene Act and the like,and a time limit for relishing and storage conditions are indicated onthe food package 22. As a rule, data corresponding to those indicated onthe label is recorded on the noncontact IC tag 11 and, generally,additional data are recorded on the noncontact IC tag 11.

Referring to FIG. 12 showing the interior of the microwave oven 41, themicrowave oven 41 has an oven unit 41 a, and a front door 41 d capableof closing an open front side of the oven unit 41 a. In FIG. 12, thefront door 41 d is opened.

Referring to FIG. 12, a food package 22 produced by packaging a food 21in a carton 22 a is placed in the microwave oven 41. A noncontact IC tag11 is attached to the carton 22 a of the food package 22. The noncontactIC tag reader 12 reads cooking information from the IC chip 111 of thenoncontact IC tag 11. Normally, the microwave oven 41 cooks foods of thesame kind at a time and does not cook foods of different kindssimultaneously.

Generally, optimum cooking conditions are indicated on the carton 22 aof the food package 22 in recent years. The same optimum cookingconditions are recorded in the IC chip 111 and are read by thenoncontact IC tag reader 12 to set the microwave oven 41 for the optimumcooking conditions. For example, when cooking a food package containingcurried rice, i.e., a HMR, the microwave oven 41 is set for a cookingtime of three minutes.

Similarly, the microwave oven 41 is set for a predetermined conditionwhen thawing out a frozen food. The microwave oven 41 may be thus setfor a cooking condition also when a food package 22 is put in themicrowave oven 41 temporarily to make the noncontact IC tag reader 12read information from the noncontact IC tag 11, the food package 22 istaken out of the microwave oven 41 and the food 21 taken out of thecarton 22 a is cooked.

The noncontact IC tag reader 12 for reading information from thenoncontact IC tag 11 may be placed on the outer surface of the frontdoor 41 d and a noncontact IC tag reader/writer 13 may be placed on theouter surface of the oven unit 41 a of the microwave oven 41.

When the noncontact IC tag reader 12 and the noncontact IC tagreader/writer 13 are thus disposed, the information can be read from thenoncontact IC tag 11 simply by holding the food package 22 opposite tothe noncontact IC tag reader 12 or the noncontact IC tag reader/writer13. Consequently, the troublesome work for temporarily putting the foodpackage 22 in the microwave oven 41 to read the information, taking outthe food package 22 and putting the food 21 again in the microwave oven41 after removing the carton 22 a from the food 21 is not necessary.

The display device 14 for displaying cooking conditions is placed on theouter surface of the front door 41 d.

After the microwave oven 41 has been set for the cooking conditions, thefood package 22 placed on a rotary dish 32 disposed in the microwaveoven 41 is irradiated with an electromagnetic wave for a predeterminedcooking time.

Noncontact IC Tag

The noncontact IC tag 11 may be substantially the same as that shown inFIG. 3.

Generally, a radio wave of 125 kHz, 13.56 MHz, 2.45 GHz or 5.8 GHz(microwave) is used for operating the noncontact IC tag 11.

The noncontact IC tag 11 may be such as shown in FIG. 4.

Although the noncontact IC tag shown in FIG. 3 is a general-purposenoncontact IC tag, the noncontact IC tag 11 to be attached to a foodpackage may be of a simpler configuration.

For example, the simple noncontact IC tag 11 as shown in FIG. 4 can besatisfactorily put to practical use. The noncontact IC tag shown in FIG.4 is fabricated by printing an antenna pattern (antenna) 112 with aconductive ink on a wall of a carton, and mounting an IC chip 111 on theantenna.

The noncontact IC tag 11 shown in FIG. 4 can be fabricated by formingthe antenna pattern 112 directly on a base 210 of a carton 22 a by asilk-screen printing process, an offset printing process or a gravureprinting process, and attaching an IC chip 111 mounted on a tack labelto the antenna 112.

A noncontact IC tag 11 integrally including an antenna and a storagedevice may be mounted on a tack sheet and the tack sheet holding thenoncontact IC tag 11 may be applied to a cardboard sheet or a softpackaging material for forming the carton 22 a. The noncontact IC tag 11can be attached to a molded carton by an in-mold labeling process inwhich the noncontact IC tag 11 is placed in a mold for molding thecarton.

When cooking a food package 22 by a cooking method which uses bothmicrowave heating and electric heating in combination, it is preferableto form the carton 22 a of the food package 22 by folding a cardboardsheet. A package of a plastic material melts when heated, and a packageof an aluminum foil sparks when subjected to microwave heating.

Microwave Oven

FIG. 13 shows the microwave oven 41 of the present invention. Themicrowave oven 41 is provided with an antenna-type noncontact IC tagreader 12 in the oven unit 41 a or on the outer surface of the frontdoor 41 d, or is provided with antenna-type noncontact IC tag readers 12in the oven unit 41 a and on the outer surface of the front door 41 d.

In the microwave oven 41 shown in FIG. 13, a noncontact IC tag reader 12is on the inner surface of the front door 31 d. Preferably, a displaydevice 14 for displaying information read from a noncontact IC tag andwarnings is placed on the oven unit 41 a of the microwave oven 41.

Preferably, the display device 14 is a liquid crystal display capable ofdisplaying information about a food being cooked, cooking conditions andnecessary warnings.

The microwave oven 41 of the present invention is internally providedwith the noncontact IC tag reader 12, and a mode selector switch 45 forselecting either an automatic control mode or a manual control mode. Themicrowave oven 41 is the same in other respects as ordinary microwaveovens.

The antenna-type noncontact IC tag reader 12 is provided with a scanningdevice capable of sending a radio wave of a frequency corresponding tothe resonance frequency of the noncontact IC tag 11 to the noncontact ICtag 11, and of receiving response waves from the noncontact IC tag 11attached to the food package 22 to read information from the noncontactIC tag 11.

The user puts a food package 22 provided with a noncontact IC tag 11 inthe microwave oven 41. When the noncontact IC tag reader 12 is disposedon the front door 41 d of the microwave oven 41, the user holds the foodpackage 22 opposite to the front surface of the microwave oven 41. Thusthe noncontact IC tag reader 12 reads information recorded on thenoncontact IC tag 11.

Since radio waves are used for reading the information from thenoncontact IC tag 11, the information can be read from the noncontact ICtag 11 without being affected by the atmosphere in which the foodpackage 22 is placed, by the position and orientation of the foodpackage 22 or by a cover.

When the antenna-type noncontact IC tag reader 12 is placed in themicrowave oven 41, the antenna-type noncontact IC tag reader 12 iscombined with a plastic molding by in-molding and is covered with aplastic film so that metal parts thereof are not exposed to preventformation of sparks when the antenna-type noncontact IC tag reader 12 isexposed to electromagnetic radiation produced by a magnetron.

The antenna-type noncontact IC tag reader 12 may be of anelectromagnetic induction system, an electromagnetic coupling system oran electrostatic coupling system depending on a communication systememployed, or may be of a composite system.

The microwave oven 41 of the present invention is capable of usingmicrowave heating and electric heating in combination and of carryingout a new cooking method which uses microwave heating and electricheating automatically alternately.

In such a case, predetermined cooking conditions are recorded beforehandon the IC chip 111 (FIG. 3) of the noncontact IC tag 11, thepredetermined cooking conditions are read from the noncontact IC tag 11and are added to the database 41 c of the microwave oven 41.

The cooking information specifies, for example, a continuous microwaveheating operation, a continuous electric heating operation, anintermittent microwave heating operation or an intermittent electricheating operation, or a combination of some of those heating operations.The microwave oven 41 is controlled automatically according to thecooking operation.

Thus, the user needs only to put a food in the microwave oven 41 for theoptimum heating of the food by a new cooking method.

EXAMPLES

Use 1: Automatic Setting of Microwave Oven for Cooking Time

When printing data on a cardboard sheet (260 g/m²) and making a papercarton by processing the cardboard sheet, an antenna pattern 112 wasprinted with a conductive ink containing carbon particles by asilk-screen printing process on the inner surface of the cardboardsheet, and then the printed antenna pattern 112 was dried.

An IC chip (Bistatix, 1 kB, commercially available from Motorola)mounted on a tack sheet was attached to the paper carton so that the ICchip is electrically connected to the terminals of the antenna pattern112 to complete a carton 22 a provided with the noncontact IC tag 11 asshown in FIG. 4.

A processed food 21 was packaged in the carton 22 a to produce a foodpackage 22. Cooking data representing cooking time and cooking method,such as microwave heating: 500 W×3 min and electric heating: 600 W×2 min30 s, was written to the noncontact IC tag 11. The food package 22 washeld opposite to the noncontact IC tag reader/writer 13 placed on thefront door 41 d before putting the food package 22 in the microwave oven41 for cooking to read the cooking data from the noncontact IC tag 11.The cooking means 41 b operated and controlled the magnetron of themicrowave oven 41 to heat the food package 22 by a heating methodspecified by the cooking data.

The microwave oven 41 read a time limit for consumption from thenoncontact IC tag 11 and displayed that the food package 22 has not beenstored beyond the time limit for consumption on the display device 14.

Use 2: Automatic Cooking Method Using Microwave Heating and ElectricHeating

A carton 22 a provided with a noncontact IC tag 11 was made by a methodsimilar to that of making the carton 22 a for Use 1.

A frozen food (such as a gratin) 21 was packaged in the carton 22 a toproduce a food package 22. Cooking data representing a heating method,cooking time and a combination of heating methods, such as microwaveheating: 500 W×3 min, electric heating: 600 W×2 min 30 s, microwaveheating method: thawing→heating and electric heating method:surface-burning heating, was written to the noncontact IC tag 11.

All the food makers concerned must use a standardized notational systemfor writing the data to the noncontact IC tag 11.

The food package 22 was held opposite to the noncontact IC tagreader/writer 13 placed on the front door 41 d before putting the foodpackage 22 in the microwave oven 41 for cooking to read the cooking datafrom the noncontact IC tag 11. The cooking means 41 b operated andcontrolled the magnetron and the electric heater of the microwave oven41 to heat the food package 22 by a heating method specified by thecooking data.

Thus a grilled gratin was finished.

As apparent from the foregoing description, in the automatic cookingsystem and the microwave oven according to the present invention, themicrowave oven reads information recorded on the noncontact IC tagattached to the food package and cooks the food package according to theinformation read from the noncontact IC tag. Therefore, faulty cookingresulting from the user's faulty setting of cooking conditions isavoided and the food can be cooked under optimum cooking conditionswithout fail. Since the difference in output of the microwave oven froma reference output is corrected, a microwave oven of any type is able toachieve proper heating.

The noncontact IC tag employed n the foregoing embodiments may besubstituted by a RE-ID tag, and the RE-ID tag employed in the foregoingembodiments may be substituted by a noncontact IC tag.

1. An automatic cooking system comprising: a food package provided witha noncontact IC tag storing information about a food contained in thefood package, the information about the food including information abouta method of heating the food and an amount of heat energy for cookingthe food, the information about the amount of heat energy beingexpressed in a form of an absolute amount of heat energy; and amicrowave oven that receives the food package and cooks the foodcontained in the food package, the microwave oven including a readerthat reads the information stored in the noncontact IC tag, and acontroller that controls the cooking of the food contained in the foodpackage under optimum cooking conditions on the basis of the informationread from the noncontact IC tag by the reader, the controller beingprogrammed to automatically set an absolute amount of heat energy to beprovided by the microwave oven on the basis of the information read bythe reader, and set a heating time in accordance with an output capacityof the microwave oven and a type of the microwave oven so that theabsolute amount of heat energy from the microwave oven conforms with theabsolute amount of heat energy information read from the noncontact ICtag.
 2. The automatic cooking system according to claim 1, wherein thecontroller determines, based on the information stored in the noncontactIC tag and read by the reader, if the food contained in the food packageis not suitable for cooking, and the microwave oven further includes adisplay device that displays a message when the controller determinesthat the food contained in the food package is not suitable for cooking.3. The automatic cooking system according to claim 1, wherein theinformation about the amount of heat energy is represented in a form ofa symbol indicating a level of the absolute amount of heat energy, andthe controller sets the absolute amount of heat energy to be provided bythe microwave oven on the basis of this information.
 4. A microwave ovenfor receiving a food package provided with a noncontact IC tag storinginformation about a food contained in the food package, the informationabout the food including information about a method of heating the foodand an amount of heat energy for cooking the food, the amount of heatenergy being expressed in a form of an absolute amount of heat energy,and for cooking the food contained in the food package, said microwaveoven comprising: a reader that reads the information stored in thenoncontact IC tag, and a controller that controls cooking of the foodcontained in the food package under optimum cooking conditionsdetermined on the basis of the information read from the noncontact ICtag by the reader, the controller being programmed to automatically setan absolute amount of heat energy to be provided by the microwave ovenon the basis of the information read by the reader, and set a heatingtime in accordance with an output capacity of the microwave oven and atype of the microwave oven so that the absolute amount of heat energyfrom the microwave oven conforms with the absolute amount of heat energyinformation read from the noncontact IC tag.
 5. The microwave ovenaccording to claim 4 further comprising: a display device; wherein thecontroller further determines, from the information stored in thenoncontact IC tag and read by the reader, if the food contained in thefood package is not suitable for cooking, and the display devicedisplays a message when the controller determines that the foodcontained in the food package is not suitable for cooking.
 6. Themicrowave oven according to claim 4, wherein the information about theamount of heat energy is represented in a form of a symbol indicating alevel of the absolute amount of heat energy, and the controller sets theabsolute amount of heat energy to be provided by the microwave oven onthe basis of this information.